.seventeen.

At the very sound of his voice, her face brightened with a smile and she pulled away from Eun's arms in an instant. With her arms shot forward in front of her, she walked blindly in the direction where his voice had been coming from until her hands met his chest, her fingers feeling the soft robes beneath her fingers. He grabbed her wrist gently and pulled her behind him, still not forgetting what he saw and he was out for blood. He was ready to confront his older brother.

"I thought you guys didn't get along." He reminded them bitterly.

Hak Soon's smile dropped when she felt the coldness of his mood which he was  displaying towards his brother. Even Eun was susprised. Out of all his brothers, he had mostly grown up around eight of them. But three of them--Baek ah, Han, and Jung--being closest to his age, were the ones he got along with the most. Jung had always been just as playful as him, teasing and trying to wrestle with him. But never had he been so cold towards him, like they weren't brothers, but more like enemies. Like he thought Eun was trying to steal something precious of his.

His older brother tried to explain. "Don't misunderstand, Jung-ah. I only helped her because she's your friend and I saw her walking to Wook's house without being able to see. I thought you would want me to help her." He said. And he remembered that night in the palace when Won and Baek-ah had laughed at him for getting beat up by two girls. Baek-ah had assured that it had everything to do with the fact that Park Hak Soon was in love with him, but Eun knew otherwise. His younger brother had also warned him to stay away from the fourteen year old because he hadn't failed to see the friendship between the two was starting to look like more than just a friendship.

"He's right, oppa." Minji cut in, tugging on the sleeve of his robe to get his attention.

The fourteenth prince was calmed, for the moment and he thanked his hyung with a bow of his head. The tenth prince then climbed on his horse and returned to the palace. 

When he was out of sight, Jung helped Minji into her house. They had walked right past the livingroom and down the hall towards Minji's room. On the way there, they were stopped by General Park, who was more than happy to see both of them together. "Just the people I wanted to see." He said to them with a grin.

Both teenagers greeted him with a bow of their heads.

"Hello appa." Minji said with a warm smile.

"How are your eyes feeling?" He asked her, caressing her face with the back of his hand in a fatherly gesture.

Minji replied, "Much better, I think."

Her father chuckled, still full of enthusiasm. He was indeed concerned about her health, but he had news for them that made him happier than he had been in a while. He thought the news would make the two of them happy as well. 

"Lets go into the sitting room, I have something to discuss with the two of you." He moved to walk towards the living room and gestured for them to follow after them. Jung linked arms with Minji and helped her back down the hall to the living room. He sat at the small table in the room and the two teenagers soon joined him. Both of them waited for him to speak and soon he began. "I went to talk to his majesty about you two, since I've noticed that you get along so well."

Minji made a face as her cheeks burned bright red. She knew where her father was going, as he had mentioned to her and her sister that he wanted them to marry the two youngest princes of Goryeo, Baek ah and Jung. Minji didn't think she wasn't exactly on board with it, but she thought the whole process to be ridiculous. She couldn't even choose who she wanted to marry. Her family had to choose for her and she had no choice in the matter. Then there was the fact that she was only fourteen and they were already promising her off to a prince she really didn't know. 

The real Hak Soon knew Wang Jung, Minji did not.

In their world, she had to be married by the time she was eighteen. 

She was pulled out of her thoughts as her father continued, "He and I think it would be a good idea for you two to get married once you turn eighteen."

When he dropped the bomb, Minji felt Jung tense by her side. He had been taken by surprise by her father's words. But what came next out of his mouth not only surprised General Park, but it also surprised Minji. 

"General," He began respectfully. "I am honored that you would consider me to be your daughter's husband." His words slowly filled with more enthusiasm as he continued talking. "I am very happy to know you think this way because nothing would make me happier than to marry Hak Soon. She's been my best friend for so long and I realized that those feelings turned into something more the moment I saw her again. If it were up to me, I'd marry her today--"

"What--" Minji began nervously.

She had only been in the past for a few weeks and she was already on the brink of being a married woman. 

His positive reaction was welcomed by General Park. "Slow down, your highness. I'm glad you feel that way about my beautiful Hak Soon. But she's too young to marry you now." Remembering his conversation with the king, he added, "Besides, his majesty informed me that before he can marry you off, he is primarily worried about marrying off Eun who will be turning eighteen soon." At the mention of Eun, Minji seemed to pay closer attention. She knew well that her sister Soon Deok was in love with him. "Then he wants to find a husband for princess Yeonhwa, then he plans to marry off Baek ah, and lastly you. That will take him at least two years. But there's no reason we can't make things official and start planning."

Jung shot up from his place by Minji's side. With her lack of vision at the moment, and the fact that he had pulled away from her abruptly, she fell back onto the floor. Jung quickly apologized and helped her sit up. Then he began pacing back and forth through the room, already thinking about breaking the news to his family. He knew that he was young, but the thought of marrying the person who had been his best friend since they were kids was one that he welcomed. 

But the enthusiasm wouldn't fade from his voice.

"I'll talk to his majesty." He said, not faltering even a little bit. Minji also found it strange the way he and the other princes always called the king his majesty and not father. It was like they weren't related at all. There was little to no familiarity between them. "We can start planning as soon as possible."

"Aren't you happy, Hak Soon?" Her father asked. At the question, Jung stopped in his tracks and turned to see her reaction.

She quickly replied with a hint of nervousness. "Of course I'm happy. I'm just overwhelmed. Everything is moving so fast."

-

The fourteenth prince had gone into the village days later, dressed as a commoner as he often did when he wanted to go unnoticed by anyone. He had challenged someone else to a fight, which he liked to do in order to perfect his martial arts skills. Both his brother Baek ah and Minji had warned him that he would probably one day get himself in trouble. But he was young and confident that he could defeat anyone.

The crowd of people that had gathered around the right cleared away when someone approached them. It was a group of men, led by another who was missing an arm. His eyes were narrowed into a glare as he spotted prince Jung. The fight stopped and the men surrounded the youngest prince. The other fighter had scurried off before the men could block his path. "Do you remember me, prince Jung?" Their leader asked, knowing easily that the boy dressed as a commoner was actually a prince of Goryeo.

Jung's eyes narrowed in recognition.

But before he could reply, the man explained with venom seeping through his words, "You lost to me in a fight once. And then you went crying to your mother. She did this to me, and now you're going to pay for it."

The prince's eyes widened in fear. "I didn't know about that. I swear." He assured.

The man didn't listen and gestured for his cronies to grab the prince. Two of them geabbed him by the arms and pulled him onto his feet. They forced him through the edge of the village towards the entry to a bamboo field. As they took dragged him, he struggled in their hold, making threats which were falling on deaf ears. 

Only three people had heard him. 

In the distance, Hajin had been out with Chaeryung and Minji. The general's daughter had recovered from her injuries, and was no longer required to wear her bandages. All that had been left behind was a faint red line that was getting better with each passing day. Minji had gone to the eighth prince's home to visit her, and the three had decided to go into town to pick up some medicine for Lady Hae when they heard the struggle that was ensuing nearby. 

They spotted the fourteenth prince and Chaeryung called out, "Hey, you there--"

But was stopped by Minji and Hajin. 

"Shh!" Hajin said to her.

"Go get help while Hae Soo and I follow them." Minji instructed. Hajin nodded in agreement and Chaeryung hurried off in the direction of the eighth prince's home, disappearing from their sight within seconds. 

The two went to chase after the attackers without being seen, and went into a forest of bamboo trees, watching them as they entered a clearing. There, they pushed Jung onto his knees and held him in place with his arm outstretched. "Now you're going to know what I felt when your mother ruined my life." He was handed an ax, that he slapped against the sleeve of his robe, where his arm would have been, signaling what he was going to do.

Minji let out a gasp. "Hajin, we have to help him."

"I know." Hajin agreed, but she bit her lip nervously, not knowing what to do.

Minji thought fast, her eyes scanning over the forest floor until she found something that she could use. It was a long stick that she picked up in her hands. 

"Wait for me here for a moment." She instructed her friend.

Before Hajin could reply, Minji ran out into the clearing, swinging the stick around until she was in the middle of the circle. The men turned to look at her, distracted for the moment, and Jung appeared surprised. 

"Leave him alone!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. "He's my fiancé!"

She closed her eyes tight and began to spin around, swinging her stick around to subdue the attackers. In the confusion, Jung had managed to get out of their grip and went to stand by her side as she stopped spinning and started making threats that she was willing to follow through with.

"I'll pull out your intestines and make soup with them if you even try to hurt him." She warned.

"What are you doing here?" He whispered a question at her, standing in front of her protectively. 

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She hissed under her breath, still keeping an eye on the men that were surrounding them. "I'm saving your life."

"And what does pyeonce mean?" He asked her another question.

Minji quickly replied, "Now is not the time, Jung."

She had just noticed they were surrounded and there weren't enough of them to fight back. If they were going to survive, they were going to need help.

-

another potentially crappy and unedited chapter. i'm not having time to do anything these days because of work. but when i have my day off on wednesday, i'll try really hard to update my other stories. so thank you all for readin and supporting.

it means a lot to me. also thank you for reading this story. 

again we have more jung action, but we'll see even more of eun soon. i would hope so. 

-clary